The Rebirth/Rebuild of my 180g sps thread

**ACRONUTS** · 10-06-2011, 02:21 AM

Well not sure how to start but I guess from the beginning. This past summer my work took my away for 4 months. While work these days is a rarity, to me it was a no brainer. Do it! Make money to pay bills and support your addiction.

While away I paid my nephew to take care of the 180 gallon reef tank which had been established now for about 2 years. My nephew took care of feeding, 10 % water changes every other week. I would have him photograph the tank and send me pics via email. Things would look very good, parameters good as well.
At this point you are saying well what the heck happened.

Majano anemones is what happened! In four months I had a massive infestation! I tried using the anaptaiser product but only got a few. I tried picking rocks out and scrapping the suckers off but they quickly came back! I tried boiling RO water but they seemed to laugh at me!!!

Then I felt I had no choice...... Total tank tear down!!! I hated the thought but it was the only way to get rid these pests!

I had been contemplating making a few changes so I thought this would be a perfect time. I was not thrilled with my aquascape, I wanted to go bare bottom and I wanted to get back to the basics.
Good old time tested techniques!
Kalk additions, monthly water changes, aggresive skimming and carbon filtration.
This is what I know best and what seems to work time and time again.

And so it begins........9-16-2011

Week 1 of tear down
I had to start slowly 25% water change removed 25% of the rock work.

Week 2 of tear down
25% water change and another 25% of the rock removed.

Week 3 of tear down
25% water change and another 25% of rock removed

Week 4 of tear down
Last of rocks removed no water change at this point. Why? I want to keep as much of the old water as possible for the good bacteria in the water column.

The rock is sitting on the side of my yard where I hose it down every couple of days to get rid of any loose dead life. I plan on letting it air out 4 weeks to make sure any possible majanos have completely died.

Here is my tank now with all rock removed and even though some sand is still visable it will be completely gone by this weekend.

As for the corals that were in my tank I have given them away to my fellow hobbists. I kept what I wanted. Like Blue Oregon tort.

Fish are doing well and are feed every other day. Only my mystery wrasse somehow got caught in one of my vortechs. Very strange!

I did not want just glass at the bottom so I opted for "starboard" material.
It is safe and salt water proof. In the industry it is used for boating material.
Several other guys on the forums use it and I know my lfs uses it exclusively.
World Wide Corals has installed the starboard material on their main display tanks. It allows coralline algae to grow on it's surface and in a short time looks really good.

My tank measures 6 feet long by 24 inches wide. It will take 3 , 2' by 2' square sections. The corners are jig sawed for the corner over flow boxes.

I plan on siliconing the pieces to the bottom of the tank so that detritus does not settle underneath the starboard and the glass.

Well this is it for now guys. I will update soon!

**ACRONUTS** · 10-12-2011, 01:55 AM

Well guys here is the middle of the 3rd week and the sand bed is almost gone.
I am stocking up on some items that will be needed.
I bought more IO salt mix and changed all my RO cartidges.
I also bought a couple of tubes of aquarium silicon for "gluing" the star board.
In order to get the aquascape I am aiming for I am stocking up on the 2 part epoxy. One mistake I made before was that I just put rocks on top on each other and hoped for the best.

Here are a couple of shots to show the live rock that has been sitting outside. Looks like it is clearing up nicely. As for smell not too bad either!

Next week is a big week! Stay tuned.........

**OhYeah** · 10-12-2011, 04:07 PM

How is the radiant wrasse with your corals and invert? Was thinking about getting one?

**philip_r5** · 10-12-2011, 07:36 PM

I would suggest the Marco Rock Mortar. It works AWESOME.

http://www.marcorocks.com/e-marco-40010lbkit.aspx

Nice to see your chromies don't have a BiG leader. I have 3 in my tank and theres one thats in charge. He thinks he owns the whole tank....

**ACRONUTS** · 10-14-2011, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by OhYeah

How is the radiant wrasse with your corals and invert? Was thinking about getting one?

it has been no problem whats so ever. only thing to watch out for is that they like to jump! ususally right out of the tank. why do fish seem to find the whole and do a perfect leap out of the water?

**ACRONUTS** · 10-14-2011, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by philip_r5

I would suggest the Marco Rock Mortar. It works AWESOME.

http://www.marcorocks.com/e-marco-40010lbkit.aspx

Nice to see your chromies don't have a BiG leader. I have 3 in my tank and theres one thats in charge. He thinks he owns the whole tank....

Hey thanks for the tip on the mortar!! It will definitely be considered. BTW like your thread!!! I started with 12 green chromis and now have 7 for about 9 months. I'm not sure where the other 5 disappeared to.

**ACRONUTS** · 10-19-2011, 01:47 AM

I have decided that while I was at it I will do some other upgrades.
I would like to upgrade my main pump. It is an old gen x and i can tell it is about to die on me.
I would like to get a gph flow rate of about 10 times my actual gallons which when up and running is about 220 to 225 including sump.
What pumps do you guys recommend that are energy efficient ? And quiet? And can do about 10x the turn over of my tank?

I am upgrading my mp 40's vortex pumps to the es model by upgrading with the hardware kit like this one.

I have also taken the advice of a fellow reefer and ordered mortar for the reconstruction of the reef aquascape. This product is more cost effective than buying tubes of epoxy.

The tank is now almost ready. I got rid of most of the sand and did a 10% water change yesterday. This will be the last water change.
I have put most of the larger pieces of rock into a 35 gallon garbage bin with tap water. So far in one day I have not noticed any bad odors.

I do not want to add bleach to the rock but will be soaking with vinegar. I will also add a pump for circulation. The rock will be held for one week and then rinsed throughly and left to dry again for another week while the smaller pieces are soaked in vinegar, rinsed and dried.

Well guys that is the update for now.

**MitchReef** · 10-19-2011, 01:12 PM

I hope you don't end up with Phosphates from the tapwater soak. Much of Central Florida's water is packed with Phos.

**ACRONUTS** · 10-19-2011, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by MitchReef

I hope you don't end up with Phosphates from the tapwater soak. Much of Central Florida's water is packed with Phos.

Funny you should say that but while filling up w tap water I Sade I hope the rock does not absorb the phosphates.
I will test tonight and change the tap to RO by weekend.
How is your tank doing?

**MitchReef** · 10-19-2011, 07:56 PM

I only have my little tank going but it's doing GREAT!!!! I even have a Maxima clam in it now. A little algae just now but I need a better fuge light, the one I'm using doesn't put out enough light.

**ACRONUTS** · 10-20-2011, 01:07 AM

Originally Posted by MitchReef

I only have my little tank going but it's doing GREAT!!!! I even have a Maxima clam in it now. A little algae just now but I need a better fuge light, the one I'm using doesn't put out enough light.

Sounds great! I will have to look for pics!
Btw the asterisk is coming from your avatar scientist! Lol

**ACRONUTS** · 10-20-2011, 01:08 AM

Hey guys just tested po4 with API test kit and the bru is coming in at a whopping 1.5!
Not as bad as I thought but the rock has been sitting outside my back yard for 4 weeks and every week I would rinse. I know that i would be freaken if this were the measurement on a normal basis. But let's see what happens!

**ACRONUTS** · 10-26-2011, 12:40 AM

Today I removed the rock that had been soaking in tap water. Interestingly though was the smell. The typical smell one has when rock is cycling.
I plan on soaking in RO water and place a power head this time. I will test after a week and see what the phosphate readings are by end of next week.

Next week is install time! Stay tuned guys!

**Iggy** · 10-26-2011, 10:05 AM

Tagging along for this rebuild.

Why not toss some phosphate remover in with your rock when you switch to RO? Can't hurt and it might save you a week.

**ACRONUTS** · 10-27-2011, 01:55 PM

Well before I go and bathe the rocks in bleach and after that vinegar, here is an idea of what I am looking for as the final look to my aquascape. Looking at it from three angles for a couple of days allows it to be just right before I mortar it together.

Front view of proposed aquascape, two islands with lots of nooks, small and large cave like settings.

Proposed front right side of tank closer look

Proposed front left side of tank closer look

From a far looks like the islands are the same but when you see the pics individually you can see they are different.

I also took into consideration water flow. I want as much flow as possible so these pics show plently of room for my my vortechs and korallias.

I am also thinking of adding a bridge at top to connect the two islands. What do you guys think?

I am also taking into consideration the height of my islands. The tank measures 24" tall. With the Star board taking about 1/4" and the trim another 1 1/2". This leaves me about 21 1/2".
Right now I am about 18 to 19 inches from bottom. I think I have plenty of room for acros to grow.

Another factor I always hated was the the fact that I had things very close to the glass making it hard to clean and pass magnets around.
As you guys can see the star board has been cut and there is plently of room for siphoning detritus.

What do you guys think? Am I forgetting to think about something?

**swirlygig** · 11-01-2011, 10:16 PM

I sure hope you checked your overflows for the Mojano's or you will just be putting them right back into your setup...just a thought.

**ACRONUTS** · 11-04-2011, 02:37 PM

Well guys a couple things to update:

I added more to the initial design of the aquascape. Some of you suggested instead of a bridge that I connect the islands for more coral space. After some thought and knowing that I had extra live rock I thought of combining the two ideas.

Here is a closer look. The bridges I decided to keep on the lower side to give a better feel to the overall look of the bigger and taller islands.
What are your thoughts?

Here is a shot of the whole look to the aquascape. Compare them and geive me your honest opinions guys.

Not sold on it yet but thinking about flow in the tank and thinking about not having any dead spots.

Rocks have now been bleached and throughly rinsed.

Interesting that these rocks have sat for 4 weeks outside drying out, then for 4 days in tap water with bleach and yet coralline algae survives along with these!!! What are they?

In cleaning up the rock I found this critter. Unfortunately gone but this half is embedded in the rock the other half I am keeping for a while. The surface is hard and the and the edges are sharp. Some type of clam I guess.

**Iggy** · 11-04-2011, 05:53 PM

Hydrogen Peroxide will get the rock perfectly white if you're so inclined.

**ACRONUTS** · 11-04-2011, 10:36 PM

Iggy I am good for now with the look of it.
Thanks for the tip though!

Originally Posted by Iggy

Hydrogen Peroxide will get the rock perfectly white if you're so inclined.

**ACRONUTS** · 11-06-2011, 01:43 AM

Todays tasks involved cutting a final edge to the middle of the star board to match the two end pieces.
I decided that leaving a 1/2" gap on the edges of the sides and front/back of the boards would bring me to the 71.5 x 23.5 inches to match the demensions on the inside of the tank.

I will silicon the board to the tank's bottom. Run an edge of siliscon along the parimeter of each board.
At first I thought oh man my jig saw's blade is broken!

But then I remembered that I bought a larger one during the 2004 hurricane season.